Schedule and speakers
Sessions, bookmarks, and ICS calendar links. Staff can invite speakers, review profiles, approve changes, and publish an attendee directory.
An event CMS that staff can run without editing code
Event Runner is a white-label event CMS. Each client event uses a separate Firebase project. The Center for Cooperative Media deploys and operates the service. Staff manage the schedule, speakers, pages, registration, and event updates in the admin panel.
Explore the demos
Static visitor preview
Browse an NC Local past-event mock-up of the March 27, 2026 NC News & Information Summit in Raleigh. Its selected historical program includes eight named sessions, 25 public speakers, and documented partner roles. It does not reproduce the full agenda or represent an official NC Local site, endorsement, or future event.
The preview is read-only, needs no account, and has no admin panel. Sign-in, registration, ticket claims, email actions, the attendee directory, and calendar exports are disabled. Use the demo controls to compare all six site styles in light or dark mode. The specimen book shows the interface components in the selected style and mode.
Hosted admin/client demo
The separate Firebase-hosted deployment demonstrates client and admin workflows. Admin screens require an authorized account; opening the link does not grant access. Its content and release can differ from the static preview.
The hosted demo was reseeded with the NC Local historical content on October 9, 2026 (issue 346). Hosted-demo verification remains tracked in issue 35.
What v1 includes
Block CMS and sign-in
A draft-and-publish block CMS for pages and event content. Attendees can use Google sign-in or an emailed six-digit code.
Ticketing
Eventbrite and manual CSV adapters use one provider-neutral registration state machine.
The triage record lists the full v1 scope and excluded features.
How it is deployed
Each client event uses a separate Firebase project. The Center for Cooperative Media deploys and operates it. The client data, sender domain, and ticket-provider settings stay in that deployment. Client staff use the admin panel. They do not manage a repository or server.
The code uses the Apache-2.0 license and can be read, forked, or self-hosted. The Event Runner product name is reserved to the Center for Cooperative Media.
For event operators
Event Runner is for nonprofits, newsrooms, universities, and event producers that need a staff-managed event site. It includes schedules, speakers, registration, pages, and session materials.
Use the General discussion category to ask the Center for Cooperative Media about hosting and licensing.
For contributors
The reference implementation is the 2026 Collaborative Journalism Summit site. That repository remains the live event site. Event Runner is a separate public extraction that accepts contributions under Apache-2.0.
Licensed under Apache-2.0.
Project status
v1 has five milestones. Milestones 1 through 4 are complete. Milestone 5 covers packaging and release verification. The public demo, site-style comparison, runbooks, and end-to-end checks are included. Eventbrite sandbox verification and final release packaging remain.
After v1, six parity milestones bring the reference summit site's features across. Milestone 7, the public site, is complete. Milestones 8 to 12 are open. The admin CMS moved onto its own editorial desk in September 2026, and the design vocabulary is expanding in six waves across the open milestones. Wave 1 is merged.
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Milestone 1
Done
Prerequisites
Copyright, organization setup, trademark review, Postmark, and the first public commit.
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Milestone 2
Done
Core port
Configuration, email, OTP, CMS, schedule, and profiles. A new project starts as a generic event site.
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Milestone 3
Done
Feature wave
Speakers, materials, media library, reactions, badges, PDF output, and live updates.
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Milestone 4
Done
Ticketing
Eventbrite and manual CSV adapters on a provider-neutral registration state machine.
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Milestone 5
In progress
Packaging
Runbooks, public demo, community files, end-to-end checks, Eventbrite sandbox verification, and release packaging.
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Milestones 7 to 12
In progress
Parity with the reference site
The public site (done), the attendee and schedule experience, admin operations, CMS editors and publishing, communication and billing, and the speaker experience.
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Design system
In progress
The editorial desk and the vocabulary expansion
The admin on its own desk in the event's colours, then six waves: the state and motion grammar, new devices, illustration sets, schedule devices, three site styles, and admin devices.